Minutes 2025

Draft Mins

Minutes of a meeting of the New Pavilion Committee held 19:00hrs, Tuesday, 15 April 2025, in the Bridge Room at the Curlew Centre, Sutton Bridge.

Present: Cllr S McLaughlin, Cllr M Middleton (Chair), Cllr A Scarlett, Cllr M Philpott, 

Co-opted non-voting members Mr D Wall, Mr D Earth, Mrs V Smith, Mr C Brandon-King, 

Mrs C Smith (clerk) Public: 

25.025. Apologies -. Mr L Marchant

25.026. There were no declarations of interest or requests for dispensation. 

25.027. Public Representations - none.

25.028. It was resolved to approve the minutes of the meeting held on 18 February 2025.

25.029. PlayZone Project

i. Match Funding -MM outlined the withdrawal of the offer of match funding from South Holland District Council UKSPF fund. This money was returned to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government as it had to be spent on a capital project in financial year 2024/25. CB-K gave a report (copy at appendix A) that the fundraising for the match funding was starting from scratch, bids to the Solar Farm, Power Station and Grange wind farm as well as the East coast were being re-jigged to focus on getting the funds in place as soon as possible. 

The Committee discussed the possibility of borrowing the funds from HM Treasury to secure the project. It was noted that residents would need to be consulted to make sure the community were happy with the project before permission to borrow money from the Ministry of Housing, Community and Local Government could be sought. Only at that point could a loan be requested.

The chair expressed concern that the money needed to be in place as soon as possible or the PlayZone may not go-ahead. It was thought that there may be further UKSPF funding available but the details had not been released. Committee members expressed their disappointment with the news of the withdrawal of the funding and lack of clear information. 

ii. Next Steps – It was agreed to continue with fund raising bids and to recommend to Council to seek permission to borrow the money be pursued as a back up plan. 

25.030. Pavilion Project

i. Progress on planning permission – MM had supplied new plans to Matthew Warre but had not been able to contact Matthew to check on progress of the planning application. D Wall agreed to contact Matthew for an update.

ii. Funding – Concern was expressed by the committee that the funding for the Pavilion needed to be found within the next year as the club were only able to operate off site for one season. After that they would no longer be able to call themselves Sutton Bridge United. The Pavilion needed to be in place by August 2026. CB-K gave a report on funding for the Pavilion, a copy is at appendix A.

25.031. Public Representations – It was clarified that £50k had been applied for and was not already achieved. The group discussed timescales for the Playzone project. It was noted that the flood lights had been removed at the time of demolition and that these belonged to the football club. The clerk apologised that the Football club had not been in formed that they would be removed. It was confirmed that they needed to be removed as this is where it is hoped the PlayZone would stand.

25.032. Date of Next Meeting - The next committee meeting was scheduled to take place 19:00hrs Tuesday 20 May 2025.

The chairman closed the meeting at 20:12 hrs.

Appendix A

Fund-raising Working Party Report for Pavilion Committee Meeting Tuesday 15th April 2025

Re: The PlayZone

We are having to start from scratch, following a breakdown in communication between the PlayZone People and the Football Foundation. As the Chairman reported, we were advised that the PlayZone people had obtained a grant of £65,000 towards our £68,000 share of the cost, from the UKSPF via Active-Lincolnshire, so we withdrew our application to the National Lottery Reaching Communities Fund. In the event, no one had noticed that the grant was conditional on it being spent before Easter – an impossibility, considering the very early stages of the project; despite indications from the PlayZone people that work would start in the summer and be completed by the autumn of this year.

I am in the process of preparing a re-jigged application [originally for the Pavilion] to the East Coast Community Fund [the wind farm in the Wash] for £50,000 being their maximum. Claire is looking at applying to the Grange Wind and Sutton Bridge Solar Farms Funds administered by the Lincolnshire Foundation and Power Station Fund. I have already drafted applications for the first two, which will need slightly tweaking to bring them fully up-to date. 

Following suggestions made by a Cllr, we are looking at a ‘loan’ administered by the UK Debt Management Office [Previously the Public Works Loan Board], a department of the Treasury; and possible commercial bank ‘loans’, at beneficial rates, for community improvements. [NB during the meeting the query was raised – it will need to be checked if the Parish Council can actually do this?] Either way, if there is a formal decision by the Council to go down that route, the Council will need to refer to Lincolnshire Association of Local Councils for permission and to submit an application to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. FYI a loan of £65,000, at 4.5% interest over 15 years would require annual prepayments of £6,060 or over 25 years £4,404.

Re The Pavilion

We have spoken with a firm of consultants recommended by the Football Foundation about our grant applications. It appears that the maximum the Football Foundation are prepared to consider at this time [markedly different from the figures previously suggested] is £250,000. Thus, for the much-reduced size of the building, we would need to raise approximately £560,000 for our contribution. If the loan referred to previously is granted, we could re-jig yet again, the application to the East Coast Community Fund meaning we would need to raise a balance of £495,000. Probably this would be submitted to the National Lottery Reaching Communities Fund or, if we are lucky, and the Labour Government re-introduce a grant fund similar to the old ‘Levelling-up’ Fund, we could apply to them instead.

Later today, I was advised that the UKSPF [UK Shared Prosperity Fund] grant scheme had been extended to cover 2025/6. I have sent an e-mail to one of the senior people in one of the many Quangos involved, to find out if we can apply for those large amounts

We too will follow-up letters sent by Mary Middleton to local businesses, asking for donations.